BUTUAN CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Caraga (BFAR-13) has facilitated the unification of aquaculture breeders in Agusan del Sur into one association.
In a statement Thursday, the BFAR-13 said at least 20 private fish nurseries and hatchery operators and four hatcheries operated by the local government units in the area have formed into a group dubbed as Agusan del Sur Freshwater Fish Breeders Association.
“The group is composed of nursery and hatchery operators from 13 municipalities and one city in Agusan del Sur covering a total of 230 hectares of aquaculture-producing areas in the province,” the BFAR-13 said.
The officers of the association were formally inducted on Tuesday in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, the agency added.
In the same statement, BFAR-13 Senior Aquaculturist Edgardo Balambao welcomed the convergence of the different aquaculture nurseries and hatchery operators in the province.
“The association is a requirement that BFAR and the private sector can complement each other for the provision of hybrid fish breeders by the agency, and the compliance of hatchery operators to accreditation requirements,” Balambao said.
He added that the union of aquaculture nurseries and hatchery operators will also ensure that local aquaculture growers are supplied with better quality strains of tilapia fry and fingerlings.
Gloria Paguntala, the group’s elected president, is optimistic that their cluster will bring more benefits to the nursery and hatchery operators in the province.
“The network of fish breeders can strategically collaborate to address the issue of insufficient supply of freshwater fish fry and fingerlings in the province,” Panguntala said, as quoted in the BFAR-13 statement.
The agency also pointed out that cooperation between the BFAR and private hatchery operators is among the strategies outlined in the Regional Tilapia Commodity Roadmap.
“The roadmap highlights the potential of Agusan del Sur, with its abundant freshwater resources, as a major supplier of freshwater fry and fingerlings in the Caraga region,” the BFAR-13 said.
It added that the development of hatcheries in Agusan del Sur is a three-year intervention of the BFAR through the Special Areas for Agricultural Development program that started in 2019 with an allocation of PHP2.1 million worth of aquaculture inputs. (PNA)
SOURCE: https://www.pna.gov.ph
